298 The Public Health. [April, 



the cleaning and ventilation of the common passages and staircases. 

 5. For the cleaning and lime-whiting at stated times of such 

 passages, &c. 



This clause gives power to vestries to take into their own hands 

 the redress of sanitary grievances. Manifold and obvious as are 

 the nuisances to be thus got rid of, it is astonishing with what 

 indifference this Act has been regarded. In the metropolis the first 

 parish to take advantage of the law was that of St. Giles, and a 

 series of excellent regulations, framed upon the recommendations of 

 the Privy Council as to the carrying out of the above clause, were 

 drawn up by their intelligent medical officer of health, Dr. 

 Buchanan, and received the sanction of the Home Secretary. The 

 publication of these regulations was followed by applications from 

 the vestries of Chelsea and Poplar, who have also had their regu- 

 lations confirmed by the Home Secretary. The parish of St. 

 James, Westminster, has also made application for the confir- 

 mation by the Home Secretary of a series of regulations. The 

 latter parish was anxious to obtain power to regulate the accommo- 

 dation afforded by the numerous establishments in that parish for 

 milliners, tailors, apprentices, and others. The officers of the Privy 

 Council, however, were of opinion that the clauses of the Sanitary 

 Act did not refer to persons thus situated. This is much to be 

 regretted, as it is very evident from what has transpired that per- 

 sons employed in the large establishments of London are obliged 

 to submit to accommodation in workshops and sleeping-rooms 

 totally unfitted to secure health and life. In the parish of St. 

 James, Westminster, the great mortality from consumption is one 

 of the most conspicuous features of its death returns, and there can 

 be little doubt that this arises from the defective accommodation 

 provided for a large portion of its population. 



One of the most conspicuous features of the above regulations 

 is the attempt to define the quantity of cubical space that shall be 

 required in the lodging-rooms of the metropolitan population. In 

 St. Giles's, a space of not less than 400 cubic feet is required for 

 each person. In Chelsea, the minimum space for a room used for 

 both living and sleeping is 350 cubic feet, and for sleeping alone is 

 300 cubic feet. In Poplar, the space required for both living and 

 sleeping is 400 cubic feet, and 300 for sleeping alone. In these 

 cases two children under ten years of age count as one adult, and 

 should these regulations thus sanctioned by the State be carried 

 out with vigour, there is no doubt of the benefit that must accrue. 

 But when it is seen that only four out of the fifty districts, into 

 which London is divided for sanitary purposes, are willing to adopt 

 these necessary regulations, it is much to be feared that the same 

 neglect of the health and lives of the community which have 

 hitherto characterized London vestries will still continue. It is 



